The Lion’s Song Is a Story Driven Point and Click Adventure That Will Definitely Keep You Engaged

From developer and publisher Mi’pu’mi Games comes The Lion’s Song, a four-part episodic point-and-click adventure title that has you exploring an expansive Vienna at the turn of the 20th century.

Story

Being an episodic adventure, The Lion’s Song takes you through four different storylines, each of which is set in a pre-World War I Vienna.

Immerse yourself in each of the four different storylines.

Episode 1 puts you in the shoes of of the gifted musician Wilma, a young woman eager to please her teacher as she retreats to the mountains to overcome the difficulties of composing a piece of music.

Episode 2 has you experiencing the development of the aspiring young artist Franz as he continues to hone his ability to portray his subjects for the complex characters that they often tend to be.

Episode 3 (my personal favorite episode) is all about the female mathematician Emma, who has to overcome not only the hard development of a new theory but also has to combat the societal issues that many women of this time period had to face.

Episode 4 serves as a fitting conclusion to the previous three and focuses on a hopeful army man as he is preparing to lead his battalion through what will be known as World War I.

Each of your decisions, and interactions, has a direct impact on the way the story plays out

Gameplay

With an incredible emphasis on story, The Lion’s Song has opted to immerse players in this story through the use of point-and-click gameplay. During each of the episodes, you have to control a cursor and interact with a variety of different elements on the screen. These include the ability to travel to different locations on an overworld map or even to engage with elements that will help to advance the story. I think this formula helps to keep players engaged in the world that they are experiencing through each of the unique stories.

Environments often hold different clues to help advance the story of each of the unique characters

Another key element of the gameplay relies the decisions you make as each of the characters. Each decision unlocks different connections, similar to a Tell Tale Series game, and at the end of the episodes you are given a summary of your decisions that compares you to others who have played the game. I found that in order to unlock the most connections, you had to rely on how well you remembered the entirety of the episode rather than relying on the skill of playing the game. The connections are compiled in a gallery that is accessible from the main menu and allows you to reminisce on the decisions you made throughout your playthrough.

While I do think the point-and-click gameplay style is the best way in which to experiencing these stories, it is certainly not without its faults. The pointer controls are very clunky as there are no shortcuts to select items on the screen. Additionally, the touchscreen on the Switch console isn’t supported, so you’re stuck moving the cursor across the entirety of the screen. While these two things are more of a nuisance than a deal breaker, you’d think that by now in the life span of the Switch most games that could use the touchscreen would have that functionality.

The sepia toned pixelated graphics are a great way to throw you back to early 20th century Vienna

Graphics/Sound

The graphical and sound presentations of The Lion’s Song play an important role in driving the narrative forward. In order to achieve an early 20th century aesthetic, the design takes on a sepia color scheme as well as an incredibly detailed pixelated pattern. As you move throughout the environments there are different elements that come alive, helping to keep the world you’re in dynamic and very active. Sound plays a greater role in the stories of each of the characters and often serves as a way to indicate to the player whether or not you’ve made correct decisions or not. Both the graphics and sound are done very well in this game and were a real treat to experience.

Conclusion

Where The Lion’s Song shines is in its ability to tell four different, yet connected, stories in a way that keeps you involved throughout each of the independent playthroughs. The sound takes on an especially important role, while the graphics help to create an experience that throws players back to the early 20th century. The gameplay is incredibly straightforward as well, making this game a very accessible one. Even though the touchscreen isn’t supported the entire game is well worth the $9.99 price tag, and if you’re a fan of story-driven games I cannot recommend this game enough as it is definitely a Nintendeal.

A native of Minnesota, Brandon has been an avid Nintendo fan for as long as he can remember and enjoys being able to escape into the vast worlds offered in their games. Some of his favorite games include: Pokemon Blue & Silver, Earthbound, LoZ Majora’s Mask, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and of course LoZ Breath of the Wild.

Outside of gaming Brandon enjoys riding motorcycle, listening to music, cooking, and is a big sports fan. He is always carrying his Switch and 3DS with him wherever he goes, so feel free to add him if you’d like to lose at MK8D.